June is coming to an end and there’s not much on this blog or Instagram to show for it. The month started with a much needed reset–6 days of Grand Canyon rafting and camping–and from there…I just didn’t think about getting dressed much. I guess I would call this month “clothing neutral”–I just put clothes on because I had to, without worrying too much about the creative expression of doing it. Here’s what I’ve been up to this month…
First, I want to say that I don’t think putting conscious effort into clothing/personal style/getting dressed is either good or bad. I’m not here to brag that I just “didn’t care what I looked like” for a month. I think this line of thinking is often used to put women down and characterize them as vain if they think about clothes. But I think clothes are awesome, and picking my outfit is often the most creative moment I have on any given day. I like that about clothes!
At the same time, it was really nice to take a break from considering my clothing so carefully. On the Grand Canyon we started jokingly yelling “the Grand Canyon doesn’t care about your diet!!!” every time we ate—because we ate a lot (trip highlight!)–but the same was true of just about everything else related to self-image. I didn’t actually see myself for 6 days. I was surprised when I saw my reflection in a truck stop mirror on our way home (my appearance, for the record, was hilarious/terrible. I had some sort of reaction to the biodegradable soap you have to use in the GC and I was covered in tiny bumps).
I jokingly promised to do a “shorts 6 ways” post on Instagram before we left and this turned out to be pretty accurate. I wore the same 2 pairs of shorts for 6 days and rotated between 3 shirts. It didn’t matter what they looked like as long as they kept the sun off me and dried super fast (so many rapids!).
And then we got back and I just sort of…stayed off Instagram. It was really nice to take a social media break and it made me realize I want to spend my summer feeling calm and doing some reflecting about our move and starting my new job. And social media isn’t always a source of “calm” for me.
And then, simply by staying off Instagram, something else started to happen….I didn’t shop. I know this isn’t groundbreaking for MOST people in the world, but if you are a once a day online browser (*raises hand*) then you know this is big. I bought one item of clothing this month, off Poshmark. Because I wasn’t stressed about what I was wearing, I wasn’t looking for “wardrobe gaps” and I wasn’t seeing other people’s shiny new clothing items online.
Online browsing, like everything else, was a habit. And it was a good habit to break. My bank account thanked me. And instead, I got to do a bunch of other fun stuff, in the clothing I already had, which was just fine.
Here’s what I read this month:
- What really happened to the missing Malaysian aircraft? A well researched and heartbreaking read about government accountability.
- I will stage a protest in my 10″ rise jeans if I must.
- On creating a ritual after you’re rejected. My former advisor kept a scrapbook.
- I finally just decided to Katie Jane Hughes it and started leaving my skin dewy (thanks to this moisturizer) with just a bit of coverup on my red spots (using this concealer and this brush–using a brush has been a gamechanger).
PhD in Clothes 